With a tight presidential race going down to the wire, Gov. Rick Perry will hit the road this weekend to campaign for his former rival in the battleground states of Colorado and Nevada, where he’ll appear at a series of rallies designed to pump up the vote for GOP nominee Mitt Romney.

Perry spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said the governor will travel to Colorado Springs on Sunday for a lunchtime meet and greet and a visit with Romney-Ryan volunteers. Then he’ll head to Pueblo to speak to a gathering of veterans before traveling to Nevada for a “victory rally” in Reno.

On Monday, Perry will appear at four rallies in the Silver State — in Fernley, Fallon, Yerington and Carson City.

A RealClearPolitics average of polls shows the race between Romney and President Obama as a virtual dead heat, so the ground game is taking on added importance.

Romney has seen his fortunes improve since Obama turned in a highly panned performance at their first debate on Oct. 3. It’s neck and neck in Colorado, where Romney has a tiny 0.7 percentage point advantage in the RealClearPolitics average, while Obama is up 3 points in Nevada. The Democrat won both states in 2008.

There’s no word yet on who else will appear with Perry on the upcoming swing, but Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval was one of the Texas governor’s early endorsers in his 2012 White House bid.

Perry's own political future has been the subject of growing speculation at the Texas Capitol and beyond. A top gubernatorial aide said this week that Perry had told him he is running for re-election in 2014, but Perry has said he won't announce his plans until June.

After his unsuccessful 2012 run for president, the Texas governor said he would consider trying again in four years, but nobody expects that to happen if Romney wins Nov. 6.

Texas Tribune donors or members may be quoted or mentioned in our stories, or may be the subject of them. For a complete list of contributors, click here.

Like this story?

Comment Policy

The Texas Tribune is pleased to provide the opportunity for you to share your observations about this story. We encourage lively debate on the issues of the day, but we ask that you refrain from using profanity or other offensive speech, engaging in personal attacks or name-calling, posting advertising, or wandering away from the topic at hand. To comment, you must be a registered user of the Tribune, and your user name will be displayed. Thanks for taking time to offer your thoughts.